ARSENAULT: Wedding music choice requires listening closely to the lyrics

If it seems like a lot of well-dressed flash mob photo ops are happening in your favourite parks and gardens, there are deep-rooted reasons.

It turns out June has been a big wedding month for centuries, and not just because the weather’s usually a bit nicer in our

hemisphere.

“During the 1400-1500s, May was the month in which the ‘annual bath’ occurred,” according to advice site superweddings.com.

“As such, since the overall population was smelling relatively fresh in June, it was a good time to hold a special event like a

wedding!”

It’s hard to argue with that logic, or the justification for using that exclamation point.

Of course, modern couples get hitched throughout the year, but late spring and summer is prime time.

And while there’s no shortage of magazines, sites and apps dispensing tips on everything from how to craft centrepieces from stuff MacGyver wouldn’t use to keeping the number of tiers on the cake from blocking the view plane of the head table, there’s one area that’s a little lacking.

Plenty of music will be played in a heightened party atmosphere, but there doesn’t seem to be any help available to prevent inadvertently making a selection that could taint wedding videos forever. So here’s a clip-and-save list of tunes that people should think twice about for the big day.

•Every Breath You Take

At first glance, the 1983 Police ballad might seem OK if your betrothed works in surveillance.

“Every step you take, I’ll be watching you.”

By the third verse, things take a turn toward the unsettling.

“Every smile you fake, Every claim you stake, I’ll be watching you, Every move you make, Every vow you break.”

•The One I Love

R.E.M. went mainstream in 1987 with this deceptive dedication.

“This one goes out to the one I love, This one goes out to the one I’ve left behind, A simple prop to occupy my time, This one goes out to the one I love.”

This could be really awkward if the one you left behind happens to be at the reception.

•One

Always an emotional high point of a U2 concert, it’s easy to see how a couple of fans could get swayed by it.

“One love, We get to share it, Leaves you baby if you don’t care for it.”

That doesn’t sound so bad. But wait for it.

“We’re one, But we’re not the same, Well we hurt each other, Then we do it again.”

•Imagine

John Lennon’s soothing vision of a religion-free, anti-materialist utopia might be a bad choice for a church wedding with a bountiful gift registry.

Remember, this wedding thing may be something you only do two or three times in your life, so don’t ruin one of them by hastily compiling that song list for the DJ.